| It wasn't all that long ago that health care training | | | | makes that an impossibility. Not only are medical |
| opportunities fell into one of three basic | | | | coding specialists a luxury for administrative health |
| categories: nursing, administrative or medical | | | | care facility staffs, but indeed a necessity. Just as |
| school. Over the last several decades, training | | | | all hospitals have employees devoted to their IT |
| opportunities were developed around new | | | | infrastructure, data availability and data security, |
| technologies, such as radiology, magnetic | | | | each also requires specialists who understand the |
| resonance and computed tomography. Newly | | | | often complex nature of insurance |
| accepted forms of treatment influenced health | | | | reimbursement. |
| care academics as well. From chiropracty to | | | | Even at the highest levels of administration, |
| physical and behavioral therapy, the need for a | | | | changes can be seen. The business aspects of |
| specialized workforce was forged out of | | | | health care have become exceedingly industry |
| advances to modern medical care. | | | | specific and require intimate knowledge of the |
| Today, it is policy which has greatly influenced the | | | | field. As a result, there are many business |
| face of health care education at the administrative | | | | administration degree programs with |
| level. The insurance industry has had a profound | | | | concentrations in health care administration or |
| effect on the number of specialized employees at | | | | management offered by universities across the |
| most large health care facilities, from hospitals to | | | | nation. Graduates have the benefit of being |
| senior care centers. The emergence of HMO and | | | | acclimated to the particular facets of the health |
| PPO health benefits has created the need for a | | | | care industry that set it apart from all others in |
| standardized system of documentation universal | | | | relation to business and commerce. |
| to all insurance providers. The development of | | | | As health care industry positions become more |
| medical billing and coding degree and certification | | | | specialized, be it through technology, new |
| programs is a direct result. Where at one time | | | | methods of treatment or policy, one thing is |
| administrators were responsible for the | | | | certain. Academia is quick to find and fill the needs |
| paperwork and data entry of patient records, the | | | | of employers in every industry. |
| sheer volume of documentation required today | | | | |